Loi & Stratégies (Paris)

Nicolas Genty

Loi & Stratégies (Paris)
Partner

For over 25 years, Nicolas Genty has developed extensive experience advising clients on French and European distribution law, competition law, consumer regulatory constraints and information technology law. Nicolas Genty has acquired a solid reputation in counseling clients during their Supplier/Retailer annual negotiations. He also counsels clients on the implementation or organization of their distribution network, their distribution contracts and sales promotion. He regularly provides antitrust advice, including on compliance programs or litigation before the French national authority and assists clients during investigations. He also counsels clients during investigations dealing with product quality and safety. His main sectors of intervention are that of the food sector, retail sector and technology.

Linked author

Loi & Stratégies (Paris)

Articles

63108 Review

Walid Chaiehloudj, Benoît Cœuré, Christophe Venture, Aurélie Zoude-Le-Berre, Nicolas Genty, Antoine Callot, Matthieu Pujuguet, Déborah Higuero, Virginie Elissalde Competition law enforcement according to the three French competition authorities in French overseas territories (Nouméa, 27 juillet 2022)

3540

Abstract On 27 July 2022 in Noumea, the New Caledonian Competition Authority organized an anniversary conference to celebrate the fourth year of its establishment. The aim of the conference was to compare the views of the three French competition authorities (the French Competition (...)

Nicolas Genty Distance selling: The French Supreme Court reminds that the right to withdraw of the consumer is excluded in case of purchase concerning the " clearly " personalized property

101

Cass. civ. 1, 20 March 2013, Mr X. and Mrs Y. / Mrs Z., Appeal No. 12-15.052 A trader who had sold a motorcycle to consumers objected to their request for withdrawal on the ground that, in accordance with Article L. 121-20-2 of the Consumer Code, the right of withdrawal cannot be exercised (...)

Nicolas Genty Excessive clauses: The Court of Justice rules on the interpretation of the directive 93/13/EEC regarding excessive clauses (Banif Plus Bank; Calanunyacaixa; RWE Vertrieb / Verbraucherzentrale Nordrhein-Westfalen)

226

The CJEU has recently ruled on the interpretation of several articles of Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts: Article 1(2): "Contract terms which reflect mandatory statutory or regulatory provisions and the provisions or principles of international (...)

Nicolas Genty Distribution: The Court of Justice rules on the legal scope of Directive 2005/29/EC of 11 May 2005 as regard a regulation conditioning clearance sales, prior administrative approval (Köck)

109

A "total liquidation" announced by an Austrian trader had been prohibited as an unfair commercial practice because he had not applied for the prior administrative authorisation required by Austrian law. Reference has been made to the ECJ for a preliminary ruling on the scope of this (...)

Nicolas Genty Aggressive commercial practice: The Court of Justice considers that giving consumer the false impression he has won a prize when in fact the opportunity to win depends on the consumer buying a product constitutes an aggressive commercial practice (Office of fair trading)

91

A question has been referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union for a preliminary ruling on the interpretation of the aggressive practice in all circumstances set out in point 31 of Annex I to the Directive of 11 May 2005 on unfair commercial practices, which consists in ’giving the (...)

Nicolas Genty Misleading commercial practice: The Paris Court of Appeal sentences a company for creating confusion for the consumer on the nature of its links with the Chambre des notaries (Notariat services)

84

Following the cancellation by the Conseil Supérieur du Notariat of a publishing contract with a company producing a newspaper for real estate advertisements, the Conseil Supérieur du Notariat criticised the company for continuing to include in the newspaper signs and allegations that led (...)

Nicolas Genty Distribution : The French Supreme Court holds that the sale of computers with preinstalled software does not constitute an unfair commercial practice (Hewlett Packard/UFC Que Choisir)

107

Cass. civ. 1, 12.07.2012, Hewlett Packard v. UFC Que Choisir, No. 11-18.807, A consumer association had brought an action for an injunction against the practice of a distributor consisting in selling computers pre-equipped with operating software without offering the purchaser the (...)

Nicolas Genty Article L. 442-6 of the French Commercial Code: The Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal holds that the Article L. 442-6, I, 1° of the French Commercial Code concerns the mass market sector provided that it mentions notably "outlets, central purchasing or referrencing agency, ..."(Immobilière Barbey/Immomedia Communication)

390

CA d’Aix-en-Provence, 28 March 2012, Immobilière Barbey v/ Immomedia Communication, RG n° 10/22732 On the occasion of a dispute between a real estate agency and the publisher of a magazine, concerning the non-payment of sums owed by the former to the latter, a court of appeal noted that (...)

Nicolas Genty Formalism-billing: The Court of Justice finds that without acknowledgment of invoices, the supplier may be established by other means that he exercised diligence required and that the operation was actually carried out in accordance with the conditions set out in corrective invoices (Minister Finansow)

116

A Polish food distribution company, which issued a large number of corrected invoices to take account of discounts following product returns, had reduced the taxable amount and therefore the amount of VAT to be paid, in accordance with Article 90(1) of the ’VAT Directive’ of 28 November 2006. (...)

Nicolas Genty Unfair commercial practices: The Court of Justice and the French Supreme Court hold that per se prohibition against sales with bonuses and bundled sales is incompatible with the EU law on unfair business practices (Médiaprint, Lenovo)

1007

CJEU, 9 November 2010, Mediaprint c/ "österreich" - Zeitungsverlag, C-540/08 Cass. civ. 1, 15 November 2010, P. c/ Lenovo France, appeal No. 09-11.161 In the first case, an Austrian daily newspaper held the election for "footballer of the year" at the end of 2007. Voting was carried out (...)

Nicolas Genty Unfair B-to-C commercial practices : The EU Court of Justice holds that Directive 2005/29/CE must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which provides for a prohibition in principle of commercial practices under which the participation of consumers in a prize competition or lottery is made conditional on the purchase of goods or the use of services (Zentrale)

1798

Following its ruling of 23 April 2009, which considered a Belgian law prohibiting "joint offers" to be contrary to Directive 2005/29/EC of 11 May 2005, the European Court of Justice also considers a German law establishing a prohibition in principle of practices "coupling the purchase of goods (...)

Nicolas Genty Misleading commercial practices: The French Supreme Court holds that the intentional element of a misleading commercial practice may be shown through a company’s failure to take due care to ensure that its advertising messages are true (ENDEIS Télécom)

2369

In order to persuade consumers who had been canvassed by telephone to change operator, one telephone operator had developed a sales pitch on per-second call charges that did not include any details on the cost of each connection or the minimum monthly billing amount. The information contained (...)

Nicolas Genty Product libability : The EU Court of Justice rules that the application of a national law cannot serve as a basis for bringing a product liability action against the producer of a defective product after the 10-year statute of limitations has expired (Adventis Pasteur)

903

Facts Before the expiry of the ten-year period, a victim had brought an action for liability on account of a defective vaccine against the person whom he believed to be the producer of the product in question. The alleged producer had argued that it was only the distributor of the vaccine (...)

Nicolas Genty Abusive provisions : The French Supreme Court decides on abusive clauses in B2C contracts (Leroux / SNC Loisirs 14 ; Groupement des Cartes Bancaires / Association Consommation Logement et Cadre de vie)

1978

Cass. civ. 1, 28 May 2009, Groupement des Cartes Bancaires v/ Association Consommation Logement et Cadre de vie, appeal n°08-15.802 Following the decree of 19 March 2009, which established an inventory of twelve terms irrefragably presumed to be unfair (i.e. prohibited in themselves) and (...)

Nicolas Genty Lotteries : The French Supreme Court holds that the French regulation of lotteries is not contrary to the EC Treaty insofar as it is justified by overriding public interest considerations (Global Sat)

1743

Facts One company had offered for sale a magazine with a scratch-off game with the possibility of winning a sum of money and participating in a draw for a monthly life annuity. La Française des jeux had filed a complaint with a civil party for a prohibited lottery and deception. Having (...)

Nicolas Genty Refusal to renew a definite-term agreement : The French Supreme Court rules that a business’s refusal to renew a definite-term agreement with a consumer constitutes a refusal to provide services in the meaning of Article L. 122-1 of the French consumer code (Le Tropicana)

1616

Facts A company had entered into a rental agreement for two mobile home pitches on the campsite it operated, for a period of one year, renewable from year to year by tacit agreement. By registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, she had notified the tenants of her decision not to (...)

Nicolas Genty Breach of commercial relationships: The French Supreme Court holds that the duration of previous relationship may be taken into account in assessing the amount of the damages for breach of long-standing relationships (Godard / BP France)

2165

Facts A distributor had been marketing a supplier’s products for eighteen years. This supplier had been absorbed by a company, which, under the terms of a rider drawn up in 1999, continued the contract and then terminated the relationship in 2003. The Court of Versailles had considered (...)

Nicolas Genty Cessation of commercial relationship: The Paris Court of Appeal holds sufficient a three months notice period and dismisses allaged abuse of economic dependence (Miom Crème Cacao/Servair)

2461

Facts A provider of airline services had partially severed its commercial relationship with one of its suppliers before the latter definitively terminated it. The supplier had subsequently brought an action for compensation for the damage caused by the abruptness of the partial severance of (...)

Nicolas Genty Breach of commercial relationships : The Paris Court of Appeal holds that there cannot be any sudden breach of commercial relationships if the other party has been in a position to take appropriate measures to start a new business (Cegelec/XP France)

1913

Facts One company had had a commercial relationship with its carrier since 1995. In September 2003 it invited the carrier to participate in a tender procedure for the transport services entrusted to it. On 3 February 2004, the company informed the carrier of "its poor position in this (...)

Nicolas Genty Exclusive licensing agreement: The French Supreme Court requires from judges that they characterize the license holder’s constitution of its own clientele to assess whether he sold his goodwill (Lara/Brenuchot)

1874

Facts After termination of an exclusive concession contract, the grantor had granted the right to exploit its trademark in the same territory to a new concessionaire. The latter had acquired from the former concessionaire the premises, equipment and inventory corresponding to the activity (...)

Nicolas Genty Resale at a loss : The Paris Commercial Court considers that selling a product on the Internet at a price lower than its retail price before its official release causes a manifestly illegal disturbance (Babelstore)

1886

Facts A website publisher had put a video game for sale on its website before the date of its official release, at a price lower than its public price. Citing the existence of a manifestly unlawful disturbance and imminent damage to the video game’s distribution signs, the game publisher (...)

Nicolas Genty Commercial equipment : The French Administrative Supreme Court considers that the stocking area must be taken into account to determine the sales area when it is "directly" accessible to customers (Leroy Merlin)

1670

Following the examination of its file by the Departmental Commission for Commercial Equipment, Leroy Merlin obtained authorisation to create "a sales area of 5990 m²". Two companies and an association presented a request before the Tribunal. Administrative for the annulment of the said (...)

Nicolas Genty Predatory pricing : The French Supreme Court rules that an "abnormally low" price, but non abusive in the meaning of Article L. 420-2 of the Commercial Code, is not reprehensible on the basis of Article 1382 of the Civil code (Usines Merger/Giat Industries)

3297

Facts Usines Merger alleged that Giat, its holding company Gitech and its subsidiaries Foc and CMD had, in particular, engaged in abusively low pricing practices on the market in speed reducers and in acts of unfair competition. The Council, seized for an opinion by the Commercial Court, (...)

Nicolas Genty Brand distribution: The French NCA penalizes a supplier for abusing its dominant position in the market for the sale of dry dog food in specialized stores and for having instigated a series of anticompetitive vertical agreements with the members of its specialized distribution network (Royal Canin)

1916

Many manufacturers optimise the marketing of their products by specialising one or more brands in different distribution channels, such as food superstores, specialised supermarkets and traditional small shops. Thus, Royal Canin has differentiated its products and brands according to the (...)

Nicolas Genty Discrimination practices : The French NCA rules on alleged discriminatory practices in the retail distribution sector (Syndicat national de l’équipement du bureau et de l’informatique)

992

This opinion makes an interesting point on the application of national competition rules. in the area of vertical restraints. The referral to the Competition Council follows a request made by an Professional association pursuant to Article L. 462-1 of the French Commercial Code. It should (...)

Statistics


63108
Total visits

1539.2
Number of readings per contribution

41
Number of contributions

Author's ranking
224th
In number of contributions
151th
In number of visits
1773th
In average number of visits
Send a message